'Malaysia's Vision 2020 on track'

NEW YORK: Malaysia's surge from once a nascent developing
economy to what it is now is described by some US experts as an "advanced emerging economy", is a reminder that the country is transiting to becoming a full developed nation by the year 2020, a goal that is embedded in the Malaysian government's Vision 2020.

The level of development and sophistication characterising Malaysia's economy today was also highlighted by Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, who is currently visiting New York with a
delegation of 14 Malaysian companies showcased under the Invest Malaysia USA (IMUS) 2013 roadshow to attract portfolio investors from the United States to Malaysia's capital market.

Abdul Wahid is also accompanied by Datuk Tajuddin Atan, the chief executive officer of Bursa Malaysia, and Datuk Abdul Farid Alias, president and chief executive officer of the Maybank Group.

Maybank, Malaysia's largest bank, has organised IMUS 2013 in collaboration with Bursa Malaysia.

"In line with the goal of making Malaysia a developed country by 2020, we underlined our objectives to increase the country's per capita income from US6,750 to US$15,000 in 2020.

Currently, we are around US$10,000 and are on track to achieving the US$15,000 income target by 2020. This is an all-inclusive income growth we are trying to achieve," Abdul Wahid said in an interview with Bernama in New York.

Abdul Wahid, who is rated as one of Malaysia's leading financial experts and was the president and chief executive officer of the Maybank Group before he was appointed the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, reinforced the Malaysian government's "deep commitment" to improving the earnings of all Malaysians, including the low-income earning Malaysians.

"Our goal will be to achieve sustainability. By sustainability, we do not just mean the environment-friendly and judicious use of the country's natural resources such as oil and gas, but also the overall economic management of the country.

"Our guiding principle is to ensure Malaysia's economic growth, yet at the same time not lose sight of our economic responsibility to reduce the budget deficit and achieve a balanced budget by the year 2020," he explained.

Abdul Wahid spoke of the "dramatic transformation" of Malaysia's economy which had moved from an agro-based through manufacturing to a services economy.

"The services sector contributed about 55 per cent to the economy and has exceeded the manufacturing sector," he said.

Highlighting the positive attributes of Malaysia's corporate sector, Abdul Wahid said Malaysian companies are better capitalised today, their debt levels are much lower than in 1997/98, when the devastating financial crisis enveloped
a number of Southeast Asian countries, and their borrowings are in ringgit rather than in US dollars, thus cushioning them against forex volatility.

"The size of our international reserves then were between US$19 billion and US$30 billion. Today the reserves are around US$106 billion," he said.

With the formation of the Asean Economic Community in 2015, Abdul Wahib said that he was a "great believer in the Asean story".

"I believe that the Asean leaders are committed to the Asean goals. Malaysian companies are successfully operating in the Asean region and this will, invariably, give American companies many advantages, including accessibility to a US$2 trillion capital market," he stressed.

The 2014 budget, announced on October 25, has been the "most anticipated budget in Malaysia's history". The budget's emphasis was on sustainability, strengthening economic resilience, accelerating transformation of the country to a developed
nation and fulfilling the promises made to the electorate in the run-up to the May 5 general election.

To illustrate the government's "economic responsibility", Abdul Wahib said the budget deficit this year was around four per cent. "This (deficit) will be progressively reduced to 3.5 per cent in 2014 and three per cent in 2015.

"Thereafter, we will keep reducing the deficit until we reach a balanced budget by 2020," Abdul Wahid said.

In the balance-of-payment account, Malaysia is projected to have a surplus of RM25 billion this year. However, the payment account surplus was narrowing down attributed mainly to lower exports, rise in imports, particularly involving big-ticket purchases such as large commercial aircraft by the airlines.

Abdul Wahid, who also addressed a gathering of fund managers in New York in the presence of the Malaysian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Datuk Hussein Haniff and the Malaysian Consul-General in New York, Syed Bakri Syed Abdul Rahman, said the government would be embarking on an "ambitious
infrastructure project", the biggest mass development Project, which will be "at par with many international cities".

Facing shortage of experts and skilled labour, Malaysia is also trying to lure back Malaysian experts who work abroad.

"We are keen to attract Malaysian expats living abroad to return to Malaysia and provide their expertise in their area of specialisation," he added.-